The BJGP is the world-leading primary care journal. At BJGP Life we add multi-media comment and opinion for the primary care community.
Here, Rodney Jones looks at the allocation formulae that distribute money and resources to England’s Integrated Care Boards. He examines the hidden assumptions behind the formulae and asks why nearness to death has never been incorporated into the calculations.
The National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death (NCEPOD) review has recently published a review of the quality of care provided to people diagnosed with endometriosis. What can we learn from this report, and what can GPs do differently to improve
The whole of modern general practice in the UK rests on both the electronic healthcare record and networked services for requests and results. Brendan Delaney reflects on the Crowdstrike outage of July 19th 2024
In this episode, we talk to Anna Wilding about how the social prescribing link worker scheme is being rolled out.
Paul McNamara and Yoosuf Ibrahim argue that is imperative for GPs to highlight the increased risk of overdose associated with street valium use, given its unpredictable composition, to individuals struggling with drug dependency. Additionally, efforts should be made on disseminating knowledge about
If all we have to offer are platitudes and cures, we will be stuck forever trying to eat the elephant in the room, a possibility in theory, but rarely in practice. If we can understand and engage with our patient’s point of
How has increasing workload impacted on GPs, and our sense of providing safe care to our patients? Nada Khan finds that research into workload and safety suggests an association between wellbeing, burnout and patient safety.
Effective public health campaigns need more than posters and TV ads about going to see your GP. We need to get key community influencers in the team if we are going to have any impact whatsoever. John Havard argues that barbers have
In this episode, we talk to Lisa Davies about how to frame discussions in practice around opioid prescribing.
Yonder: a diverse selection of primary care relevant research stories from beyond the mainstream biomedical literature
The intervention takes less than a minute every day - and done at scale would be safe and as cheap as chips. Imagine that existing good quality evidence showed that it is 10 times more effective than the current NHS Health Check
"Health is whatever helps me to travel hopefully within and between my story-strands." Paul Thomas describes this as Community-Oriented Integrated Practice (COIP) – a way of thinking & acting that facilitates local collaboration for health and care.
"In the dynamic landscape of healthcare delivery, South Asia stands at the forefront of transformative change, particularly in the realm of family medicine. This article explores and elucidates the diverse models of family practice emerging across the region ... "
In this episode, we talk about the association between new onset anxiety and risk of developing Parkinson's.
I don’t need to tell a GP audience this, but it’s always worth a reminder. For us GPs the relationship is everything. Outside GPs this doesn’t seem widely understood. Everyone will agree that relationships are crucial, but usually in a way that
In 'Good Reasons for Bad Feelings', Randolph M. Nesse offers a fresh perspective on anxiety and depression in modern day living – that of evolutionary medicine, specifically evolutionary psychiatry.
Plans to include PAs in general practice have been recently challenged with a recent Royal College of General Practitioners’ (RCGP) call to halt additional recruitment and deployment of physician associates. The RCGP position is based on results from a recent survey of
As AI tools become increasingly sophisticated and accessible, it is important for GPs to engage with this technology, argues Marcus Lewis
Avoidant restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) is classified as an eating disorder diagnosis. Clare Ellison and colleagues outline the potential signs of ARFID, detail an initial primary care assessment, and present resources for signposting and further CPD.
In this episode, we talk to Dr Meena Rafiq about diagnosis of sarcoma in general practice.
In Japan, there is a saying that deities disguise themselves as difficulties and offer trials to those who have true courage and strength. My supervisors taught me that when we are overwhelmed and troubled by complex problems, we should respond with sincerity
This book would resonate with parents of neurodiverse children and help them feel less alone, but I also think it is a funny and kind explanation for people who don’t have experience living with SEN or neurodiversity. With the increase in general
Competence expansion alone is not a viable solution to intolerable GP workloads in the UK or anywhere else. Richard Armitage has a simple message for policymakers on the mathematics of practitioner burnout.
Stories entertain us, but on a deeper level, they also help us make sense of our experience; they are cultural vectors, transmitting the values and wisdom of one generation to the next. The proper use of power is a common theme in
The recruitment and retention ‘crisis’ in general practice is far from being resolved, and it risks being seriously exacerbated by a lack of jobs in general practice.
In this episode, we talk to Dr Abi Eccles about how women with anal incontinence after a childbirth injury can be better supported in general practice.
"People living with long COVID symptoms should be encouraged to seek support from primary care, and primary care clinicians must be responsive to patient need." - Carolyn A Chew-Graham and colleagues provide a summary and analysis of long COVID patient care, presenting
Dr Benji Waterhouse provides a fly-on-the-padded-wall account of life as an NHS psychiatrist. He describes the bedraggled NHS we recognise all too well in this memoir...
Critical realism offers a theoretical framework that reflects what wise clinicians instinctively know: medical disorders do not always arise as single events at molecular or cellular level but can be generated at one, or multiple levels, of complexity through numerous contributory factors:
In this episode, we talk about consultation patterns before death by suicide in general practice.
Yonder: Hidden work, inhaler use, step counts, and appendicitis and colorectal cancer
David Kernick explores two models that offer insights into the concept of healing, here taken as a facilitation of the body's intrinsic ability to restore optimum functioning: allostatic control and complex adaptive systems.
Most jobs now involve a screen and being online. "What does this new reality do our minds and brains?" is a question yet to have enough evidence to answer. However it is fast becoming clear that we are no happier or healthier
A 'potteres-que' educational experience? Elke Hausmann reviews a long running Saturday course in the history of medicine run by one of the UK’s historical medical institutions.
In this episode, we talk about how patient expectations can play a role in experiences of antidepressant discontinuation.
The idea of history repeating is historically recurrent. It goes back to the ancients, so there must be something in it. A case in point is the UK’s recent infected blood scandal ...
Terry Kemple reviews the latest book by James O’Brien, a writer and broadcaster who hosts a popular daily current affairs programme on LBC radio. O'Brien chooses ten influential individuals with their facilitators and allies to blame for the current dismal state of
Can't sleep unless I've had a skinful... his ruddy face flickers. Oscillating fast... between the big man not allowed to cry... and the little boy who chose to survive.
Against a backdrop of armed conflict and geo-political instability, medical education becomes a daunting challenge. Safiya Virji highlights a web-based resource which can be used offline.
In this episode, we talk to Dr Adam Geraghty about a questionnaire to use in mental health consultations with patients to look at emotional distress and low mood.
